Cantate: About Us

Photo by Sarah Kerr, Nov 2012

Founded in 1984 by Phyllis Isaacson and under the artistic direction of Gisèle Becker since 1994, Maryland-based CANTATE CHAMBER SINGERS is one of the Washington, D.C., area’s premier chamber choral ensembles. Its 32 auditioned, experienced singers are regularly hailed for artistically exciting, innovative performances of newly commissioned and rarely heard choral works, as well as celebrated classics from the traditional repertoire spanning five centuries. (Please visit the Reviews page.)

Cantate fosters a tradition of innovative programming, creative outreach and collaborative performances with such ensembles as Bowen-McCauley Dance Company, Afro Blue, the Maryland State Boychoir, Folger Consort and Eclipse Chamber Orchestra. A two-time recipient of the Choralis Foundation’s Ovation Award for Innovative Programming, Cantate is committed to the commissioning and performance of new choral music, both through its biennial Young Composers’ Contest and the establishment of the Guenther Fund to underwrite choral commissions.

The group won the Choralis Foundation’s Ovation award for creative programming in both 2011 and 2015, and has issued four CDs: A BRITTEN HOLIDAY (Raven), Andrew Earle Simpson’s visionary wedding oratorio A CROWN OF STARS (Albany Records), Maurice Saylor’s brilliantly playful setting of Lewis Carroll’s THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK (Naxos), and SUNSTONE II. Please visit the Recordings page for more information and to order them.